The administration of uridine or uridine precursors to humans can be as beneficial as the administration of cytidine or cytidine precursors. However, the potential benefit of uridine or uridine source dietary supplementation is overwhelmingly greater than the benefit of cytidine administration. This is due to the fact that cytidine, as opposed to uridine, either cannot cross or is much less efficient than uridine in crossing the blood-brain barrier.
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) allows for analysis of brain chemistry in vivo. A strong correlation was reported between IQ and brain pH, as determined from 31P-MRS in normal subjects, although a study of the temporal lobe in epileptic patients failed to replicate this finding. Proton MRS (1H-MRS) detects signals from neurometabolites including N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and creatine (Cre)- and choline (Cho)-containing compounds, showing impaired cognition and poor functional outcome.
It has been shown that dietary supplementation increases membrane synthesis, stimulates release of cholinergic compounds and improves cognitive abilities in several pathologies such as Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease.
Therefore, there is a need for monitoring and validating the compliance of subjects in adherence to supplementation regimens as well as for the validation of treatment efficacy.